Minneapolis Gun “Buy Back” Works for Second Amendment Supporters

The Minneapolise gun “buy back” held last week was a great success for everyone concerned. Gun haters were able to buy 150 firearms to destroy. It helped satisfy their urge to “do something” symbolic and it made them feel good. The people turning in old, cheap, broken down guns got money to upgrade to better things. Many, if not most, were Second Amendment supporters.

Gun manufacturers were able to manufacture new and better guns, and sell them to willing buyers. Private purchasers made some good deals.

The publicity was almost a draw. Gun haters claimed guns were bad. Second Amendment supporters showed that the guns were valuable and wanted. I judge it a plus for the Second Amendment supporters.

The star of the show was the homemade shotgun made from $8 worth of pipe, some scrap wood, and tape, that brought in $100 for its owner. The serial number was buybacksdontwork01, written in marker on the stock.

The police officers running the show were in on the fun. They did a great job. From MNguntalk.com:

I stood there for those 2 hrs talking to the officers and they didn’t know the rules so the first few people had no limits enforced. The officers didn’t care about any of this and made plenty of jokes about how silly it was.

A guy turned in a homemade slide fire 12 ga. made out of pipe and a 2×4. The officers thought it was hilarious.

They took four from me including an “AR” for $300 … a Charter Arms AR-7 parts gun with a stripped barrel nut
The cops there did a great job. No issues at all except for a late start.
Every single person in line was one of us

The AR-7 met the criteria for an “assault weapon” listed in the “buy back” announcement. It was semi-automatic. It was small caliber. It has a detachable magazine. As a bonus, it was an “AR” (Armalite Rifle) and it had a plastic stock. The organizers were pleased. They had scored an “assault weapon”!

The private buyers were happy too. At least one got a rifle and a shotgun. I would bet that the shotgun was a nice pump, double, or semi-auto. Maybe the rifle was a Marlin 336, or a Winchester 94. They are common in Minnesota. Perhaps it was something more exotic, like a Remington Model 8, or a full military 03A3. Those were pretty common back in the day. From startribune.com:

The event also attracted several private firearms buyers who stood outside the fire stations promising more money for some weapons, and profiting after the buyback ran low on funds.

Gun collector Paul Joat drove from Chisago County to scope out what people brought in. He conducted two purchases on the street, for a rifle and shotgun for $175.

Some gun owners were skeptical of the program’s effectiveness. One anonymous gun owner said he received $200 in gift cards for his firearm and plans to use the freed up funds for a new gun.

I suspect that this sort of event is headed for the dust bin of history. The real purpose has always been propaganda; send the message, “Guns bad. Turn them in!” But with private buyers and Second Amendment supporters in attendance, the message becomes decidedly mixed.

Some friends wistfully wondered why they never have an event like that near them. I suggested that maybe they could organize their own. All they have to do is find a non-profit or philanthropy-minded gun hater with a few thousand extra dollars.

It was reported that the Minneapolis event had $25,000 worth of funds, and it was out of money in less than two hours (it was scheduled to run for eight hours). Organizers bought about 150 guns, so that’s an average of $167 per firearm. Most of those turned in had to be .22 rifles and shotguns, or the average would have been higher.

Shotguns and .22 rifles that were not semi-auto, and didn’t have detachable magazines, brought $100 each. Larger caliber rifles and handguns were worth $200. “Assault weapons” were worth $300.

Ha! The first two quotes above are my words from the forum. The event was held on the north side and on the south side, I was at the south side. The people running the event ran out of gift cards in 20 minutes, then disappeared for two hours before finally returning .

The police had a good time and made fun of the entire event. They were told to show up and run safety with no instructions. The people running the event stepped away and didn’t do anything but left the officers to handle it and they didn’t tell them how to do it, payout schedule, three gun limit or anything. The officers were laughing saying, “man they didn’t tell us anything, we didn’t know we were going to be working it”.

The slamfire shotty was handed off to the guy in line next to me by a person that I think is a local gun rights org leader (not sure). One of the officers laughed and said, “how much did you pay that guy for that?”. He said “nothing, a friend dropped it off”.

So yes, a good time was had by all except a couple crabby people that were upset that they had to wait for two hours.

Also, I spent most of the 2 hr wait time talking to one of the officers about guns…what we liked, the dept. was using, training, etc. I told him that some of these guns were going to artists that were going to make some anti-gun art. I loved his response. “Oh really? Well, I like guns and I like art so maybe they will make something that looks cool at least, haha”

Dammit…I knew I should have held off going to Shooters Roundup in Morristown until Sunday. I had a broken starter pistol my dad used to keep the dogs from becoming gun shy that I’d saved up special for an event like this.

I would take the money I received from unloading my junk, turn around and write a check to the NRA for the same amount. I would copy the check and send it to the organizers with a delightful “thank you” letter, praising them for contributing to the cause of gun rights.

I would probably send that letter to the editor of the local newspaper as well, to give the organizers some positive feedback.

I almost went to a gun buyback in Houston in the early 90s. I had a cheesy .22 Mag Davis derringer with one barrel that wouldn’t fire, and would have been glad to get a hundred bucks for it, which was almost twice what I paid. The reason I didn’t go was that the buyback was held in a neighborhood that is and was a no-go zone for white boys (I’m amazed by the photo of the buyback line), and Texas hadn’t enacted its concealed carry law yet. I fiddled with the derringer and somehow made both barrels work. Loaded with shot shells, it’s great for snakes.

Can you profit on good guns from such an event? For example, I don’t buy crappy guns, so let’s say I show up with a brand new never fired LWRC DI that I paid $1500 for. Would they buy this back for $2K? : ) I mean, just how dumb are these liberal douchebags?

Private buyers show up at most events where private sales are legal. People have even been able to arrange things in California, where private sales are not legal, by arranging to meet at at a dealers to make the transaction. Obviously, that means the transaction has to be worth the time and effort, but I have heard of a few.

Freedom breeds freedom, and restrictions set the stage for more restrictions. I applaud the freedom fighters who turned up at this event, and made it a positive lesson for Minnesota. The police there also deserve honorable mention.